In many cases, minority women find it difficult to navigate the road back to higher education. Fortunately, black and Hispanic women can find a generous variety of sources for educational funds from colleges and universities that make returning to school a much lighter financial burden.
Scholarships such as the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund, available on-line only at worldbank.org, and World Studio Scholarships, available on-line at scholarships.worldstudioinc.com, assist women from within, as well as outside of, the United States.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Selected Professions Fellowships for African American Women focus on women developing careers in law, medicine and business. Applications are available on-line at aauw.org or by calling 800-326-2289.
Many women who already hold an undergraduate degree may want to return to school after raising a family. Pepperdine University offers a Master of Business Administration program that focuses specifically on women's development in the business world. Contact the dean of admissions at 310-506-4392 for further information.
The AARP Women's Scholarship Program also understands the difficulties of returning to school and offers substantial scholarships to qualified women over 40 interested in obtaining a degree or simply staying on the edge of career development. Get more information at aarp.org or call 888-687-2277.
For women interested in returning to an education in the food industry, culinary scholarships such as the Women's Chef and Restaurateurs Organization and New York's Culinary Trust offer assistance through classroom education, internships or independent studies for those with an interest in the field of culinary arts and restaurant development.
Learn more about the Women's Chef and Restaurateurs Organization at womenchefs.org or by calling 877-927-7787.
Learn more about New York's Culinary Trust at culinarytrust.org.
The demands of the science and technology fields have spawned a new generation of scholarships for women returning to school with their minds on the future.
Brookhaven National Laboratory offers scholarships to women who have experienced a break in their education for various reasons. Get more information at bnl.gov.
Women in Technology of Tennessee also offers scholarships to women returning to school to further their education in the field of technology. More information is available at wittn.org or by calling 615-202-5840.
Many more scholarship programs are accessible through universities and private schools supporting the continuing education of women.
Returning to school as a single mother can be particularly challenging. The Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship and the Jeanette Rankin Foundation Scholarship Programs
(visit www.rankinfoundation.org or call 706-548-0202) offer substantial financial relief for single mothers returning to school. The Jeanette Rankin Foundation additionally supports married women over the age of 35 who are interested in returning to college.
Information on the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship is at aspsf.org or 479-927-1402.
Information on the Jeanette Rankin Foundation Scholarship Programs is at rankinfoundation.org or 706-548-0202.